It’s okay to do adaptive layout. Really.

Then came the comments. Nothing really wrong with any of them, but the whole “layout is not the only thing that should concern you; performance/context/content/blah is also (maybe even more important)” thing is getting very tired. Why? Because nobody is saying those things aren’t important.

Here’s a fact: If the homepage of site [x] is 100kB, then it’s 100kB. If I make that page look decent on several devices via adaptive layout—unless I go overboard—it is still going to be 100kB. Okay, maybe 101kB. It’s either zoom hell or not. So people can complain about that, but unless they’re willing to add to the client’s budget, the extra layout flexibility is (often, not always) a relatively quick readability and usability win. Device-agnosticism should be baked into the design approach anyway. There’s absolutely no harm in it.

So no, do not ignore content strategy and performance. And if you do content strategy, then you’d do well to be thinking about design. Device-agnostic design applies here as well.

Don’t feel bad about doing adaptive layout just because these other things are also important. It’s okay. Really.

Well put and well-played. Not matter what you do someone, somewhere, will find fault with your work. Adaptive layout is a great tool to have at our disposal. Overengineering something is another form of procrastination. You can wait forever for every element to be perfectly aligned and optimal or you can just “draw the fucking owl.”

But Wilson’s right; maybe it’s just not currently important enough that we just do good work for our clients’ sake. Sheesh… ;)

@Wilson, @Billee: I thought that most important thing was Facebook. Just sayin’.

@James: You can’t read Dutch? What the hell is wrong with you? :) Seriously, I think you’re on to something there: that in cases where adaptive layout is the low-hanging fruit (for existing sites without any mobile strategy), we might follow Vasilis’ lead and use it as to dangle a carrot in front of these clients, using it as a segue to deeper thinking about mobile contexts. And BTW, this museum is still at that first step.